Last evening the Panamerican Championships started on the Tropicana courts with an informal, official ceremony. In attendance, the wings behind Beach Tennis Sjoerd de Vries, a professional ITF referee, Massino Morelli, ATA and the Aruba Tennis Bond representatives, also two beach tennis stars, from Brazil the #1 female player Raffaella Miller and from Aruba, #12 in the world, the handsome Aksel Sarmardzic.
On Friday, yes, tomorrow, the games are moving to the new Bushiri arena, and we can expect a spectacular sporting competition, from Nov 9th to 17th, with more than 1,250 participants, in a number of categories, competing on 40 courts, for more than $70,000 in prizes.
Players from Aruba, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Curacao, Puerto Rico, USA, and their family members will be arriving on a fun vacation, more than 1,250 visitors, among them 700 players.
The games start today at 9am, and then again at 5pm; they will be monitored by the International Tennis Federation, ITF. Please lend your support, come and watch, it’s our money that created the arena, we might as well enjoy the action, sitting high on the tribune, watching the gods wrestle for gold.
For more information visit the website www.arubabeachtennisopen.com,
The World Series of Poker is coming
Over the past months, the team at the Casino Aruba at the Hilton made great efforts and invested considerable funds, in making Aruba a circuit stop on the World Series of Poker. They hoped it would become an annual event, in the shoulder season, designed to boost the island’s economy, when needed.
The series is targeting 165 professional poker players, but will attract up to 300 vacationers, family members and friends, similar to the successful way the Ultimate Bets poker tournaments worked, more than 10 years ago.
The casino’s teamwork will be rewarded when on November 14th to the 24th, The Casino Aruba and Island Gaming NV, host the World Series of Poker Organization, which can easily be compared to an Olympic event, or to a world championship.
On the schedule: 10 official events, presenting winners with an expensive commemorative gold ring, and one final table on Saturday, Nov 23rd, in the afternoon hours, with an attractive cash prize guarantee of $250.000.
The series will start with a welcome reception at the Casino Aruba and will conclude with a poolside farewell party, both in partnership with Tropical Bottling — Bacardi & Patron, and other generous sponsors.
It is good to note that Island Gaming NV is a local company, and its ambition to put Aruba back on the world’s poker map is admirable.
Player and their families will be staying at a number of high rise hotels while all the action takes place at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino.
You are invited to come watch the professionals do their magic, from behind their dark sunglasses.
